Key Features

The Arch

The most striking, highly visible feature of the stadium is 133 metre tall arch that sits above the north stand. The steel arch is 315 metres long and will become the longest single roof structure in the world and will be visible right across London.
The arch supports all of the weight of the north roof and 60 per cent of the weight of the southern side. By using an arch to bear some of the weight of the southern roof it is possible to retract the south roof to allow light an air onto the pitch.
The arch also ensures that there are no pillars in the new stadium which could obstruct the views of fans.

The Roof and the Pitch

One of the key challenges of the design team was to keep the famously high standard of the Wembley pitch while, at the same time, designing a stadium with stands that are higher and closer to the pitch than the original stadium and give better uninterrupted views.
Many new stadia have suffered from poor pitches as the stands in them stadia can leave large sections of the pitch in almost permanent shadow and grass demands direct sunlight to grow effectively.
For this reason, the sliding roof remains an integral part of the design for the new Wembley.
Instead, computer models have been made of air movement and sunlight on the existing pitch and the unique moving roof designed for the new Stadium.

The Royal Box

One of the most recognised features of Wembley is the presentation of trophies from the Royal Box rather than on the pitch. The new Royal Box is in the traditional position - in the middle of the north stand - as in the old Wembley Stadium.

The Stadium Bowl

A key feature of the current stadium is that almost all spectators sit in a single bowl rather than four separate stands. This is a central feature of the new design with almost all supporters or concert-goers able to share the event with 90,000 other fans creating a more memorable atmosphere.
The acoustics of the new ground will take the original stadium as a benchmark. Recordings taken during the 1999 FA Cup Final and models of the Stadium created by using three blasts of white noise during the England v Poland game in 2000 will form the basis of sophisticated computer models that will allow the design team to finely tune the acoustics of the new stadium.

Orientation and the External Concourse

The orientation of the Stadium remains east west, with the main façade pointing north down Olympic Way. To accommodate an external concourse all around the Stadium, the new building will move 30 metres north, towards Wembley Park Station. This new stadium concourse will make it much easier, and safer, to enter and leave the stadium.